Enduring Hope
by pinkmonkey99
Summary: Darkness will fall... and my love is lost... but somethings are worth risking my life, my soul, my heart...::::: well... R&R please and flamers are welcome but only if you really HATE it
1. Life as it is

**A/N: umm well I thought I would write a story and I wanted to have a good idea so I came up with this… I think it is good enough oh welll, I just hope I didn't put anyone out of character, Rinao is like me a bit in this story and I tried to make Squall like he is so…**

Disclaimer: I don't wn FF8 but I do own this fic.

**Chapter 1: Life as it is**

Rinoa was so happy, the winds were changing. After her mother had died she thought she would never be happy, but things were different now. She was with Squall and living in a house, not too big not too small, just right. Rinoa thought of how lucky she was, having Squall and a home and everything. She lay on her emperor size bed thinking about her new found life. She heard the door open.

"Rinoa, I'm home… and I have food" Rinoa leapt up at the sound of Squall's voice, she ran downstairs and flung her arms around him, despite the two bags full of food, giving off a gentle smell that relaxed Rinoa (as relaxed as she could get anyway)

"whoa, Rinoa you are excited" Squall said as she finally released him from her tight grip. She tilted her head to the side and looked at him

"only because you will feed me" she said playfully

"well maybe I won't this time" he said holding the bags above her head so she couldn't reach, Squall was still quite a bit taller than her. Rinoa jumped as high as she could but Squall kept moving it away, left, right, up, down. Rinoa finally gave up but looked at Squall, her hands together like a little angel, Squall couldn't resist.

"HAHA I win mwahahahahaha" she shouted grabbing the bags and running to the kitchen. She peered through the bag, she retrieved a smaller paper bag and looked at Squall.

"CHINESE" she screamed. Squall shook his head and let out a little laugh. Rinao stopped jumping up and down and looked at him. "did you just LAUGH?" she said, staring at him.

"umm, well it was a pitty laugh, I always do that" he said defensively

"Why do you always have to cover up fun?" she said putting her hands on her hips.

"I so do not cover up fun" he said. "just because you are INSANE" he said jokingly. Rinoa looked at him and then spun around like she was crazy. "ok, ok, ok Rinoa, let's try and eat now shall we????" he asked joining Rinoa at the bag and pulling out various paper bags and boxes.

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Rinoa sat on the sofa, eating her food. The TV switched on, she looked over at Squall.

"I thought we agreed no TV was on tonight" she said crossly

"yeah but match of the day is on" Squall said as if that was it

"men" Rinoa sighed. She stared at the TV emptily, not interested in the match: Arsenal v Tottenham. Suddenly, the football switched over to the news. Rinao looked at Squall again "you have suddenly developed a liking to the news?" she said playfully. The man on the TV spoke.

_We interrupt this program for this news special. War has broke out over Estar and an unknown land. We are recruiting men to come and help fight for Estar_.

Rinoa watched this in awe, nibbling on her last piece of chicken, wandering how well this war would end.

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Rinoa lay in her bed, thinking about the new she had seen that day. Was this war going to be a big one, was it going to end happily (as happily as a war can end). She hated wars ever since she was a little girl. She snuggled up to Squall, one sentence still swimming in her mind.

_We are recruiting men to come and help fight for Estar.._

**A/N:. DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNN What will happen next, will this story end happily, I don't know yet so naaaaaaaah sticks tongue out… I am sorry for all of the 'Rinoa' at the beginning of every new paragraph…. I just cant write. Ok so bad writing out. Koooool story line. I was thinking that this would be a big story like Queen Adreena's but I thought that with my other story on XS but it has 4 chapters and 16 reviews and SpicyDonut's has 2 chapter and 17 reviews. Oh well I don't do it for the reviews anyway….. sniff sniff sniff**


	2. Breaking heart, Breaking news

**A/N: well this is my new chapter and… well I hope you like it, you didn't seem to like the first chapter but oh well, tah tah and thanx for all the reviews people, I LOVE YOU REVEIWERS OUT THERE. umm I wanna change the fist chapter a bit but I'm not allowed on my log in thing… Squall and Rinoa are having relationship problems and they fight with each other. Oh and I just wanna have 30 seconds silence for the people who have lost someone or have fallen victim in the Asian Tsunami. 1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10…11…12…13…14…15…16…16…17...18…19…20…21…22…23…24…25…26…27…28…29…30…ok, NOW READ ON**

Disclaimer: on the first page

**Chapter 2:** **breaking heart, breaking news**

"_Squall, Squall, no don't leave me"_

Rinoa woke with a start, she sat up and looked at the clock on her bedside table. 11:45. she felt uncomfortable seeing as she had gone to bed in her day clothes, being as tired as she was due to the lateness she had gone to bed she went dowstairs and made herself some breakfast. She picked up the newspaper and caught up on the latest news. She skimmed through all the boring stuff when something caught her eye. It was the war again, she read through the article carefully.

War breaks out in Estar 

On 1 January 2005, Estar declared war with an unknown land now know as 'Casteadn' the president of Estar, Laguna Loir made his speech just yesterday

"_I as the president of Estar have a duty to…_

Rinoa skimmed through thiis part, she knew Laguna could waffle a bit. She found the bit that she wanted.

"so we as the city of Estar must fight against Casteadn and protect our land, we will be calling forth men to come and fight in war for Estar. Women and children will evacuate the land.

Rinoa looked up from the new, there it was again, women and children, what makes women so incapable of war? She read on but there was nothing much interesting. Rinoa threw her last bit of toast in her mouth, glanced at her clock. 1:00, _wow I'm a slow reader_ she thought and ran upstairs again.

Rinoa looked at Squall, sleeping deeply. Rinoa couldn't help but smile, he was so cute when he was sleeping, his long brown locks all tangled and messy, his face relaxed and calm. As Rinoa's eyes wondered down Squall, taking in every perfect part of him, something caught her eyes, it was Squall's gunblade, he always kept it by his bed, just in case of an emergency, Rinoa had always disagreed with him, in an emergency someone might use it against him. But he would always insist on it. Rinoa gazed at the blade for a moment, the silver glinting in the small light shinning through the curtains. Rinoa looked at Squall, he was still asleep. She stood up, being careful not to wake Squall, she quietly moved towards the blade. She had handled other weapons before, her own and her friends, but Squall had always been very protective of his, even when they got together. He would always say that it was too heavy for her, yeah right. Rinoa was stronger than he thought. She knew it. She stared at the blade, shinning in the winter morning sun, taking one last look at Squall, checking he was still asleep, then bent down to pick up the gunblade.

Rinoa picked up the blade and held it tight,

_I can do this, I can do this, I… can't do this_

Rinoa fell over to the floor, it was heavier than she had thought. Determined to do this she bent down to pick it up again not bothering to check if Squall was awake, she just wanted to pick this thing up. She grasped the handle tightly, taking in a deep breath and lifted the heavy metal off the carpet. This time she held it in the air for longer, Rinoa felt confident now. She let go with one hand and felt the cold, smooth edge of the blade with her delicate hand, running her elegant fingers up and down.

"you know, you shouldn't really do that Rinoa" Rinoa dropped the blade in surprise, cutting her hand in the process. Crimson mess began to pour out of her hand, she held it tight, trying to stop the blood flow. She looked at Squall who was lying on his side, with an amused look on his face.

"Stop laughing… SHUT UP" she shouted

"I didn't say anything" he said.

"yuh I know but… well… meh"

"Rinoa I did tell you not to play with my gunblade, you cant handle it" he sat up and looked at her. She glared back at him.

" I am so sick of no one taking me seriously" she shouted.

"I AM taking you seriously I ju-"

" I don't care what you 'just' I am stronger than you think, you just don't give me a chance to prove it" she shouted at him, and with that she stormed out the door. Squall sighed, and ran after her, he was not fully dressed, only in boxer shorts.

Rinoa stormed out of the house and out onto the cold streets. Not daring to look back. She wasn't usually like this, it wasn't like her to storm out, but she was just so sick of being treated like she was still a little girl, she was grown up now and, though no one knew it, capable of doing things.

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Squall ran out onto the street, looking right and left but there was no sight of Rinoa, rubbing his arms in cold he retreated inside, hoping she would come back soon.

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Rinoa walked around, the cold air thrashing against her skin. She looked down at her cut, it wasn't very deep, but it was still tricking blood. Rinoa hated being like this with Squall, she just wanted to walk away from all the fighting and shouting. Rinoa walked along the cold road, thinking about last night. It had been so perfect. He had been so open and playful. But that was just one night. She wanted it to be like it was before, when they first got together. They were so happy then. But now, their relationship was fragmented and broken.

It's all my fault, if I wasn't so… so temperamental. No…no we both have our moments but… oh I don't know.

Rinoa walked into Deling. Even at this time it was busy. She wandered into some of the shops, looking around at the items and objects, not really taking any of her surroundings in. Rinoa wandered around the shops for a while until she became weary. She walked into a random café and slumped in one of the comfy chairs. She picked up a magazine and tried to take her mind off Squall. It didn't work, her mind just wandered away, taking her with it.

Squall sat on his bed, thinking about the argument they had just had. Was it his fault?

I shouldn't be so overprotective, selfish.

"_**I am stronger than you think"**_

the words rang in his head, strong, what did it really mean, emotionally strong, being able to shut out the hurt and pain, physically strong, being able to protect yourself from danger and hurt, protecting your loved ones from hurt and danger. Loved ones… Rinoa… Squall put his head in his hands. He hated showing his emotions, but he didn't think his heart could take much more of it. He was supposed to protect Rinoa from hurt and pain, instead he was putting her through it, shouting at her, laughing at her.

'clang, clang, clang'

the bells were ringing, signalling that it was 6:00, Rinoa's mind jolted into reality, the magazine still in her hands. She listened closely to the bells, echoing, bouncing off the walls, shacking her mind. She stood up. And left the café. Her hand was no longer bleeding but still considerably red. She wandered round the shops some more, not wanting to go back to Squall.

_Squall… what is he doing now, it feels like I have been away for ages_ _but I know I haven't._

Rinoa wandered around Deling, to her surprise it was fairly empty. She looked up, it was raining but she didn't care. Rain, to her, was always so romantic, she was expecting her knight in shinning armour to come running and sweep her off her feet, but it didn't happen. She spotted a phone box, being fast she ran towards it and hid inside. Rinoa looked out the window, the rain was spattering against the glass, she turned to face the receiver and searched her pockets for change, any. She found 20p. not much but enough. She picked up the receiver and placed the coin into the slot and dialled her home number. The phone was ringing, she heard someone pick uo the phone and…

"Hello?" it was the sound of his voice, she shivered, she wanted to speak but no words came out of her mouth.

"Rinoa is that you?… please come home" he said. Rinoa still didn't answer. She wanted so much to just tell him how she felt and sort things out but she couldn't. she could hear the receiver at the other end being put down.

"no… no Squall please, I just wanna tell you" she said quietly "please" she said, tears filling her eyes. She slumped down in the phone booth, hugging her knees, shaking in the cold. She closed her eyes and hoped that reality would just float away, leave her there in the booth, but it didn't. she tried to calm down but it didn't work. She stood up and walked out into the empty street, the pavement shinning in the rain.

She wandered around in the rain until she came to a bench. She sat down on it, she didn't care how wet it was, she was already soaked through. She lay on her back, staring up into the sky, rain hammering down on her face, the sky was a redy, pinky colour.

Squall heard the door go, he rushed downstairs and opened the door, but it wasn't Rinoa, it was the postman. He politely took his letter and read through. Squall looked up in, out into the rain. Rinoa was somewhere out there. He had to find her. He grabbed his coat, letter in his hand and ran out into the rain. Looking left and right. He ran as fast as he could, squinting in the rain. He ran into Deling and looked around for Rinoa.

"RINOA" he shouted, out. He kept on running until he could see a vague outline of someone on a bench. He ran towards the figure. It became clearer.

"Rinoa!!!" he shouted again. Rinoa sat up and looked at him, soaking wet. She jumped up and ran for him, she wrapped her arms around, glad to feel the warmth of him, she looked up at him, tears still in her eyes. He showed her the letter, she read through it slowly taking in every tiny detail. She looked up at him again and shook her head.

"no" she said quietly "No" tears were falling down her face again. She looked at him, her eyes filled with tears and horror…

**A/N: ok so crappy ending, I couldn't figure out how to end it and sorry about the change in story line… Rinoa and Squall are not happy ok… got that? Relationship problems got it… ok good, umm please R&R but no flamers ok bye people. **


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